| ACTU pleads for rate rise amnesty
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is being urged to consider the plight of working families when deciding whether to increase interest rates this week. Analysts say higher than expected December quarter inflation figures and solid domestic demand give the RBA a strong case to increase interest rates at its board meeting in Sydney tomorrow. If the bank's board does decide to raise rates, they will be at their highest level in 12 years. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says low and middle income families cannot afford another rise, and the RBA should hold rates at current levels until the full impact of the global financial situation becomes clearer. ACTU president Sharan Burrow says many families already have their finances stretched to the limit by mortgages, credit cards and other loans, and the RBA should look at other economies.
Stantec founder honoured posthumously
That was Joan Bibby's first introduction to Don Stanley, and if you think that was a corny line, when they met later at the local store he said he'd just had his apartment redecorated and did she want to see it. She declined, but eventually they started dating and married in 1960. .
Report: Woman, Cat Shared Staph Bug
People struggling to get rid of recurrent staph infections might want to consider an often-overlooked source: the family pet. A German woman repeatedly battled the same strain of drug-resistant superbug MRSA until her cat was tested and treated. It's one of the few documented cases of transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus between a person and a cat.
The otherwise healthy woman had deep abscesses, or boils, all over her back, said Dr. Andreas Sing, a microbiologist at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority in Oberschleissheim near Munich. Nasal and other swabs from her husband and two children showed they carried the MRSA germ on skin but had no signs of infection.
Antiseptic washes and antibiotic nasal ointment killed the germ in the other family members, but the woman was still infected.
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